


Recognition

by ebbj9891



Series: In Quest Of Something [11]
Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Office Sex, POV Justin Taylor, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-30 19:39:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3949177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebbj9891/pseuds/ebbj9891
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After happily agreeing to step in temporarily as Kinnetik's creative director, Justin makes his mark with a major campaign. Brian decides to give Justin the recognition he deserves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recognition

_“Taylor!”_

“In here,” Justin calls, not stopping working as he rushes around the creative workspace. He doesn’t even halt when Brian comes storming in, clearly on the warpath. Brian’s warpath be damned – he has work to do.

“What happened to our six o’clock meeting?” Brian demands.

“I rescheduled it,” Justin says mildly as he continues editing the draft layouts. “Didn’t Cynthia give you the memo? I’ll see you at eight.”

“I saw the memo,” Brian retorts, sounding more and more pissed off by the second. “I don’t know who told you that you have the authority to reschedule meetings that I set. You don’t. You’ll see me now.”

Justin looks up briefly and explains, “The work isn’t done yet. It’ll be done by eight, as per the memo.”

“You mean the memo that you had absolutely no authority to write?” Brian asks, anger sparking in his gaze. “The work was supposed to be done by six. It’s half past now – that’s all the extra time that you get. Your allotment of special treatment is well and truly up.”

It’s clear that Brian isn’t willing to budge. It’s also obvious that he’s had a shitty, shitty day and that he’s looking for someone to take it out on. Since the rest of the staff have abandoned ship for the day, that leaves Justin to suffer the consequences. Knowing that there’s no other option, he gives in. “Fine. But it’s not quite where it needs to be, so just please-”

“Accept that my creative director is trying to weasel his way out of an important deadline?”

Justin starts at Brian’s sharp tone. He may be willing to cave to Brian’s demands but he sure as hell isn’t going to put up with being spoken to like that. He straightens up and pins Brian with a glare loaded with warning. As Brian glares back, Justin says firmly, “Go and sit your ass down in the conference room. I’ll be with you in a minute.”

For a moment, they remain locked in a silent stand-off. Then Brian relents. He turns and marches off towards the conference room, snarling over his shoulder, “You’d better be.”

Justin rolls his eyes and starts gathering the latest drafts. With an armful of almost-finished work, he follows Brian into the conference room and starts setting everything up. As he’s propping up one of the boards, Brian snarks, “Riddle me this: how many seconds are in a minute?”

“Brian-”

“I know it’s not eighty-seven, that’s for fucking sure.”

“Okay, so I took an extra twenty-seven seconds,” Justin snaps. “Big fucking deal. Calm yourself.”

“The _big fucking deal,”_ Brian retorts icily, “Is that the client is going to be here first thing tomorrow. I need to see if what you’ve come up with is worth half a damn.”

“Have you ever seen me come up with something worth less than that? Trust me – I don’t do sub par. This will be worth the precious half hour that you had to wait. By the way-” Justin gives Brian a very serious look, “Half an hour?! We need to have a discussion about my allotment of special treatment.”

Brian doesn’t seem even remotely amused. Tersely, he orders, “Get on with it.”

“Fine,” Justin mutters. As he hands Brian the latest mock-up of the portfolio that will be handed to the clients tomorrow, he wonders if anything can be done to lift Brian’s abysmal mood. Then an idea springs to mind – lately, Cynthia has taken to plying the creative team with sweets to keep them on a productive sugar high. Justin fishes through his pocket and procures a lollipop. He peels off the plastic wrap and pops it into his mouth.

“Taylor,” Brian says in a low voice. Justin looks up and smiles at him innocently. Brian narrows his eyes. “That’s a cheap ploy.”

“Is it?”

“It is, and you’re better than that.”

“I’m really not,” Justin laughs. He grins and then gives the lollipop a lewd lick. Victory – Brian almost cracks a smile. Justin has every confidence that he’ll soon have Brian grinning from ear to ear.

He finishes setting up the drafts so that they’re clearly displayed and plugs his thumb drive into the display screen. As his draft presentation appears, Justin sets the lollipop aside and explains, “I’ve been working closely with Hélène’s designers for the past month. They’ve shown me the label’s debut lines as well as their retail spaces across the country. They’re not your typical label; they’re focused on a really classic look, whether it be the vintage repro garments or the sites they’ve chosen to set up shop.”

“Yeah,” Brian says drily, “I read the brief, too. Plus, if you’ll recall, I was cc’d in on most of those emails.”

“Will you let me finish?”

This request is met with a gloomy scowl. Justin ignores it and pushes forward. “I wanted to honour their vision in my designs. Even though they’ve bought ad space that’s very conventional for a fashion label – Glamour, Cosmo, Vogue – it won’t do to follow a conventional approach. Other labels would expect something on trend, something glossy, maybe something with a celebrity fronting it. You know the type. The team from Hélène won’t go for that, so I’ve given them this.”

He reveals the next slide which presents the early drafts of the key art evolving into the latest drafts. “I drew my inspiration from the golden age of French poster art – specifically, Mucha and Chéret. These initial designs are for the debut Spring line, so I focused on delicate colours and the incorporation of light and other natural elements. If I’d had until eight, I could have showed you how these designs will shift throughout the seasons and collections – I have templates drafted for Summer, Winter, and Fall, so that the team can get a good sense of what they can expect from us in the months to come. This campaign honours their designs, their physical presence throughout the country, and it hopefully helps to translate their philosophy into a visual forum. It’ll stand out in all the ad space – it’s different and distinctive. These are the still renditions, and I’ve designed animated ones to match. They’ll eventually feature models, but we can discuss that with the client tomorrow.”

Justin stops, takes a breath, then asks cockily, “Your thoughts, Mr. Kinney?”

Brian stares at him thoughtfully for a few moments, then smiles and says, “Get your ass over here.”

With a triumphant grin, Justin shuts off the screen and grabs his lollipop. He swirls his tongue slowly around the sticky red sphere as he saunters towards Brian. “I take it you liked it?”

“I did indeed,” Brian says, watching him with a fiery gaze.

“I suppose it was worth the wait, then?”

“I’d rather that I didn’t have to wait,” Brian gripes, arching an eyebrow, “But ultimately, yes, it was worth it.”

“What a relief,” Justin gasps dramatically, clutching his chest. “I can breathe again.”

Brian scowls at him. Justin merely laughs and drops into Brian’s lap. As he wriggles in close, he gives the lollipop another suck and then offers it to Brian. “Wanna taste?”

“What flavour is it?”

Justin takes another suck. “Cherry.”

He’s pleased when Brian nods slightly. Justin guides the lollipop to Brian’s mouth, but suddenly, Brian grabs his hand and holds it at bay.

“Not like that,” Brian says, smirking. “Like this.”

Then he releases Justin’s hand, grabs his collar, and wrenches him close for a kiss that sets Justin alight. He moans as Brian’s tongue pushes into his mouth, tasting him and the sticky sweetness of the candy. Justin slides his hands into Brian’s hair and grips it, tugging it slightly as Brian kisses him harder. Then, all of a sudden, Brian lifts him up and lays him down on the table.

After crushing their mouths together once again, Brian pulls back slightly and murmurs, “When I say it was ‘worth it’… I mean that it was completely fucking spectacular.”

“I know,” Justin asserts with a grin.

Brian chuckles and starts unbuttoning Justin’s jeans. As he pops open each button very slowly, he says, “You deserve some recognition, Taylor – for a job _very_ well done.”

A thrill shoots through Justin as the last button pops open. Brian tugs his jeans off and flings them aside; Justin almost bursts out laughing when they land messily on top of the philodendron in the corner, but it’s soon forgotten when Brian slips his fingers underneath the waistband of his briefs and drags them off ever so slowly. He closes his eyes and enjoys the sensation of Brian’s fingers and the cotton material sliding down his legs smoothly. Then he’s treated to Brian pressing soft kisses from his left ankle to his left knee, then all the way up his right thigh. 

As soon as Brian takes his cock into his mouth, Justin opens his eyes. He pulls himself up slightly and watches as Brian swallows him whole. It’s so dizzyingly good that Justin almost collapses back against the table, but he manages to keep a hold of himself. The sight of Brian’s gorgeous lips wrapped around his cock is too divine to miss.

He manages to keep his eyes glued to Brian until the very end, when it all becomes too much - the sight and sensation of Brian sucking him off fervently quickly sends Justin over the edge. As he comes, he cries out in ecstasy and falls back against the table with a  _thunk._

“I take it you liked it?” Brian asks with a smirk.

“Fuck, yes.” Justin reaches for him, urging, “Come here.”

“Later,” Brian says, pulling away. “You have work that you need to get finished.”

With a burst of laughter, Justin accuses, “You are such a taskmaster!”

“I am when there’s work to be done. Now get to it,” Brian says bossily. As Justin jumps off the table to retrieve his briefs and jeans, Brian smacks his ass and adds slyly, “You have an hour.”

That’s less than Justin would like but he also knows it’s more than anyone else would get. He grins at Brian as he gets dressed. “Yes, sir.”

Brian smiles back and draws him in for another kiss. “See you in an hour.”

“See you then.”

*

An hour later, Justin finishes up and goes to find Brian. He finds him in his office, setting up their dinner in the windowseat – Justin’s favourite spot in the whole office. He goes and sets the finished work down on Brian’s desk, then joins Brian for dinner. Justin slips in between Brian’s legs and reclines against him cosily. As Brian kisses his cheek, Justin grabs them each a slice of pizza and pulls their beers closer. For a while, they enjoy their dinner in a comfortable silence, throughout which Brian grows more and more relaxed. Justin is pleased - seeing Brian so tense worries him, and to see it alleviated is a huge relief.

“So,” Justin says, snuggling deeper into Brian’s arms, “How was your day?”

“It was atrocious,” Brian mutters. Then he nuzzles Justin’s neck and adds, “Until it wasn’t.”

Justin smiles and rests his head on Brian’s shoulder. “If there’s every anything you need… you know where to find me.”

“Yeah,” Brian says softly. For a while, he’s completely silent and almost entirely still – except for his left hand, which is pressed to Justin’s thigh and massaging it in small circles. Eventually, he speaks up again. “You could stay. You know – if you wanted to.”

Justin almost chokes on his beer. He hadn’t expected that at all. Momentarily, he’s tempted to say _yes, hell yes, let’s do this._ Brian is similarly enthusiastic; sounding eager, he explains, “We work well together. You’re incredibly talented. I know we agreed that this would be temporary but I thought I should let you know that it doesn’t have to be. If you want it, the position is yours. Permanently. Or for however long you want it.”

Though it’s tempting to say yes, Justin knows that he can’t. He nestles even closer to Brian as he says, “I appreciate the offer… but as much as I like working here, I really want to focus on my own work.”

“Yeah. I know.” 

Justin cringes a little at the dejection evident in Brian's voice. He tries to make up for it by kissing Brian's cheek comfortingly, but Brian still seems a bit glum.

“I thought about doing both but I feel like I wouldn’t be able to give myself fully to either.” Justin links his fingers through Brian’s and brings Brian’s hand to his mouth. After kissing it gently, he says, “You deserve someone who can dedicate themselves completely to the role.”

“So far all the applications are piss-poor,” Brian grumbles.

“There’s still a week until the closing date. More will come in – you’ll find someone. Someone great. Until you do, you’ve got me. And even after you’ve found someone else - I am always here for you if you need me.” Justin smooths his hand through Brian’s hair and kisses him tenderly. “Just say the word and I’ll be here.”

“Thank you,” Brian says with a tender gaze and a slight smile curving across his face. “Really, Taylor. Thank you.”

Justin considers how he might turn that smile into a grin. There are so many tempting options. Beaming as he considers them all, Justin replies, “My pleasure.”

**The End**


End file.
